It is customary in the home construction industry to provide rain gutters for mounting along and underneath the eaves of a building thereby capturing and directing rain runoff from the building's roof to a remote location for drainage.
Normally, the gutters are open-topped and formed from a continuous length of relatively rigid sheet material such as aluminum or galvanized steel. Gutters may also be formed from other materials such as rigid polyvinylchloride or other synthetics. Generally speaking, the gutter has vertically extending front and back walls as well as a substantially flat bottom. The front wall of the gutter is often provided with an ornamental design which extends along its length, thereby contributing to the overall aesthetic appearance of the home.
Since the gutters are mounted underneath the eaves of a building and below the roof, they do not extend the entire periphery of the building and thus terminate at the ends of the roof. As a result, rain gutters require "capping" at these open ends to prevent collected water from improperly draining.
It is customary in the art to cap the open ends of sheet metal type gutters using stamped metal caps which are formed with recesses therein to accept the edges of the open end of the gutter. Normally, this recess is placed over the end of the gutter and driven on until the gutter fully enters the recess. The cap and the gutter are then riveted or crimped together. Illustrative of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 297,561 (Leisemann).
Other rain gutter end caps are designed to selectively open and close in order to facilitate cleaning of accumulated debris within the gutter. U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,097 (Allen) discloses a gutter end cap having a hinge with latch means to releasibly open and close the end of the gutter for cleaning purposes.
Finally, portions of the gutter often contain ornamental configurations for improving the aesthetic appearance of the gutter itself. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 230,597 (Settle) discloses a head for a gutter downspout having an ornamental casing which is open at the top and bottom to direct fluid through the device and into a separate conduit therebelow.
None of the above mentioned prior art devices provides an end cap for a rain gutter having an ornamental configuration corresponding to the ornamental configuration of the front surface of the attached gutter. In addition, the prior art end caps simply seal off the end of the gutter and in no way assist in directing rain which accumulates within the gutter. End caps which contain the peripheral recess for accepting the end of the gutter are often difficult to align when being assembled onto the ends of the gutter. This problem is compounded when a sealant is incorporated within the recess. Additionally, prior art devices require close tolerances within the gap of the end cap recess so that upon assembly the edge of the gutter end interfits within the recess. End cap constructions which contain a recess also fail to provide a streamlined appearance between the surface of the gutter and the attached end cap.